Dr. Shoop's Family Medicines

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Bottle Vitals​

	Date	Color	Shape	Size (Height x Diameter)	Value*
Dr. Shoop's Family Medicines	1890s	Clear	Rectangular	6.5" x 2.25" x 1"	$10.00

Bottle Views (click to enlarge):

Front	Back	Side	Side	Bottom
		Dr Shoop's Family Medicines	Racine, Wis

Dr. Clarendon Shoop opened a medical practice in Racine, Wisconsin in 1883. He soon branched into proprietary medicines, and by 1890 he had established his "Family Medicines", including his restorative nerve tonic, a catarrh cure, worm cure, and many others. Apparently he had a cure for just about everything -- all the ills known, apparently.


Here are some of his most well known preparations (click to enlarge):



As the brand name suggested, it was just what every family needed (click to enlarge).



He initially sold his medicines door to door, but then began an aggressive marketing campaign that dramatically expanded his business. It was formally incorporated in 1891.



And rapidly expanded such that he needed to build a new laboratory. By the mid 1890s, construction had begun on the "Shoop Building", which was an architectural win for Racine, and which Is now on the national register of historic places. Here is an article about it prior to its construction, including an artist's rendering of the intended structure. Click to enlarge.



Here it is in 1905, and as it still stands today (different angle and lighting, obviously). Click to enlarge.



The medical business paid well back then, and Dr Shoop built a grand home for himself on Main Street in Racine.

But ironically, Dr. Shoop ran into health issues of his own and wound up living much of each year in California, where he died at the age of 73. But in his will, he intended that some of his fortune be used to build a home for dependent age men, hopefully on the shores of Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, rising costs made that untenable, according to this article. (Click to enlarge)



With so many different medicines under his banner, it is impossible to tell which concoction was in this particular bottle. In its day, it would have had a paper label to tell the exact contents. Here is an example of how that might have looked:


And finally, here is the before and after on this bottle, using just soap and water, brushes, and scrapers.



*value is an estimate based on sold eBay listings at the time of posting. Value varies greatly with condition.